


the freckles in our eyes are mirror images (and when we kiss, they're perfectly aligned)

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, amusement park au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-09
Updated: 2013-12-09
Packaged: 2018-01-04 03:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1076045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maybe Zayn and Liam didn't fall in love underneath rose petals to the tune of an angelic choir, but for their purposes, it was perfect.</p>
<p>(or: an amusement park au that's too long to be a drabble but too short to be one of those colossal, memorable fics. 's somewhere in between.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	the freckles in our eyes are mirror images (and when we kiss, they're perfectly aligned)

**Author's Note:**

> once upon a time, i wrote this for a writing contest that i was in, and i kinda liked it. so here we are.
> 
> (title from "such great heights" by the postal service)

Zayn and Liam fell in love amidst flashing lights and a cacophony of bubbling laughter and hardly-current pop hits, sweltering summer sun hanging low in the sky and coating most of the memories of their shared summer in muted oranges and yellows.

(But let's not get ahead of ourselves.)

x x x

" _Mum,"_ Zayn begged, confronting his mother in a last-ditch effort to avoid joining the workforce. After all, he was eighteen and had never worked a day in his life; therefore, the only place that was actually willing to hire him was _Adventure Coast_ , the mediocre amusement park he remembered from his youth. Zayn, of course, felt like he was awaiting a death sentence rather than his first day on the job. "Are you really going to make me do this?"

"Yes, Zayn," his mother affirmed, voice as stern as she could manage (which, as it turned out, wasn't very stern at all). "You're eighteen now. I'm not about to kick you out of the house, but you need to learn how to be independent and responsible. And that starts with this job."

Before he could even think of a rebuttal, he heard a series of sharp honks coming from outside of his house. He sighed loudly; that could only mean that Louis, his (reluctant) best mate and ride to work for the rest of the summer, was impatiently waiting for him outside.

"Got to go," he murmured, kissing his mum on the cheek and pocketing his mobile. "See you later."

"This job will be good for you, I promise," she replied in that knowing sort of voice that only parents could manage. She cracked a smile. "Now get out of my sight."

Zayn rolled his eyes affectionately, looking back at her as he walked out the front door. "Love you too, mum."

x x x

Liam got ready for work in complete silence, house long empty. His mother had already left for her own job about an hour ago, and his father... well. He hadn't seen his father in about seventeen years, since he died when he was small.

He had learned to be independent from a young age; after all, his mother meant well, but she was always working, so she didn't have much time for him. Thus, Liam knew not to expect her to wake him up if he slept through his alarm. He didn't expect breakfast on the table or tea still warm from the kettle, nor did he await his freshly pressed uniform for the first day of work this summer.

If he wanted any of that, he'd have to do it himself.

He got into his car (a new addition to his routine this summer; he used to walk the three miles that it took to get to his job, but he'd finally been able to get a car after years of saving up) half an hour before his shift was meant to start, sighing a little as he began the familiar route to his summer job at _Adventure Coast_.

Sure, it sort of sucked, fastening bratty, screaming children into their seats and listening to the same phrase repeated over and over again _(Hello, and welcome! Please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times_... he could repeat it in his sleep, at this point) every single day. but he really needed the money, especially since he was going off to uni in the fall and his mum couldn't pay for all of it herself.

He needed to do his part, even if it meant working a shitty minimum-wage job in a place that was essentially hell (except only marginally cooler) and wasting most of his summer away.

Still, maybe things would be better this summer.

(He refused to acknowledge the fact that he had this exact thought every single year.)

x x x

_Pathetic_.

It was only his second hour into this new job, and Zayn already needed a smoke break.

He couldn't help it. In theory, his task for today seemed so simple: stand in front of the stairs to the _Gut Wrencher_ and only let sixteen people up to the platform at a time; any more than that and it was technically a fire hazard, since they'd be blocking the stairs.

Still, it was _boring_ , not to mention hell on his ears. And if one more ten year old whined and screamed about not being let onto the ride right away, he was going to hang himself with his lanyard.

So he chose to take one of his two allotted fifteen minute breaks, leaning against the wall of one of the many overpriced "restaurants" (if you could even call it that) and pulling out a cigarette from the front pocket of his skinny jeans. He lit one up, sighing at the practically instant relief that flooded through him.

"Hey," he heard suddenly. He looked up, spotting a boy that looked about his age. The boy was generally attractive, but his eyes were definitely what hooked Zayn; they were somehow simultaneously striking and adorable, chocolate-coloured and gleaming in the bright sunlight.

"You know you can't smoke here, right?" he said next, effectively making Zayn focus less on the boy's attractiveness and more on the words that were escaping those (soft, plump) lips of his.

"Sorry," Zayn replied sheepishly, though he made no move to get rid of the cigarette; he instead stopped for a second, taking another drag. "I'm new. I didn't know."

The boy raised his eyebrows. "Well, there's only one smoking area in the whole park, and it's definitely not here."

"Yeah, well, my break ends in," he paused to check the time on his mobile, "twelve minutes, and to be perfectly honest, 'm not leaving until I absolutely have to."

The boy shook his head at that, chuckling a little.

"Well, mate, if you're going to stay here, then at least share."

x x x

After talking to the rule-breaker a bit, Liam quickly found out that his name was Zayn and that he worked on the _Gut Wrencher_ , which had been Harry's old job before he moved onto bigger and better things. (Which, in his case, was a job at a bakery. Liam didn't quite see how that was much better, but to each their own.)

He didn't know why, but he found himself genuinely starting to _l_ _ike_ Zayn. He was actually really funny, clever, and intelligent, which was more than he could say for a lot of his other co-workers. Not to mention that he had practically modelesque good looks (Christ, have you _seen_ those cheekbones?) and the jaded, wry sort of attitude that Liam wished he could pull off.

He was just... _c_ _ool_. And by some miracle, Zayn felt the same way about him. (Or, at least, he liked him enough to hang out with him on his breaks.)

They got on really well from the beginning, finding a lot of similar interests (they both loved comic books, for instance; Zayn even had a tattoo that said _ZAP!_ on his right forearm) as well as a shared distaste for bratty children and arrogant higher-ups.

He was just... well. Wonderful. It took barely a week for Liam to grow ridiculously fond of Zayn, finding himself actually looking forward to work just so he could spend time with the boy.

But he wasn't in love with him already. He _wasn't_.

(He could see himself falling in the future, though, and that was enough to scare him.)

x x x

It was a month into Zayn's summer job, and he actually didn't hate it.

Of course, it wasn't the _best_. He hated children, for starters, and being forced to deal with them every day wasn't exactly his favourite past-time.

But if whiny children were clouds and rain, then Liam was his umbrella. He didn't erase the problem, of course, but he made it bearable. (Because, as much as he'd hate to admit it, he would gratefully withstand hours of his dreadful job just to see Liam for fifteen minutes.)

"Malik," he heard suddenly, making him jump about fifteen feet into the air. Of course, upon hearing an outburst of laughter coming from his left, he knew that Louis had to have been the culprit.

"What do you want from my life, Tomlinson?" he groaned, shaking his head and taking a puff from his cigarette. He hadn't seen Liam at all today, and his lack of presence put him on edge. He tried not to think about it; after all, the poor sod probably got too caught up in his work and forgot to take a break. It wasn't like he was ignoring Zayn or anything. (Or, at least, he rationalised it like that so he wouldn't drive himself insane.)

"I'm gonna leave early today; I've got a date tonight, so I won't be able to drive you back today," he told him with a grin, laughing a bit before continuing. "You could always see if your _boyfriend_ could take you home. I'm sure he'd be morethan happy to." His grin turned into a lewd sort of smirk, and Zayn whacked his arm, rolling his eyes.

"He's not my boyfriend, you wanker," he replied, though his cheeks turning a soft shade of pink despite his words. He checked the time on his mobile and sighed a little, stubbing out his cigarette with the sole of his shoe. "I've got to get back to work. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." He waved at Louis before turning around and heading back to the ride he'd been working at for the past month, sighing a little on his way.

He hoped he'd spot Liam, at some point, but he of course didn't have any luck.

Zayn didn't even bother to deny it to himself; he was ridiculously infatuated with him already. He was afraid to use the word 'love', however; he feared that even thinking about being in love with Liam would make it come true, like some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.

(What he didn't count on, of course, was the fact that he'd probably been in love with him since they shared a cigarette behind that shitty pizza place on the first day of summer.)

The rest of his shift was unbearable without Liam to get him through it, the screaming children and passive parents wearing down his sanity more so than usual. However, by some sort of miracle, it was finally time for him to clock out, and he had to make a conscious effort not to run as soon as the clock struck seven.

On his way out, he finally, _finally_ ran into Liam, his mood instantly brightening once he spotted the loveable knob who had been causing him so much inner turmoil over the past month.

"Hi," he stated simply, the corners of his mouth lifting despite his best efforts. He saw Liam smile back at him, and he was fairly sure that nothing had made him feel more alive in years.

"Hi," he replied, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "You waiting for Louis?"

"Nah," Zayn replied simply, absentmindedly leaning in closer to Liam. They had this way of doing that whenever they spoke; Though they always started off a normal distance away from each other, they always found themselves leaning in closer without even realising it, as if they gravitated towards each other. "Lou's got a date tonight, so 'm gonna walk home."

Liam raised his eyebrows. "You know, I could drive you, if you wanted." (That was one of the many things that he loved about Liam; he genuinely loved to help people, but he was never pushy or insistent about it.)

Zayn didn't even try to hide his smile this time, tongue poking out from between his teeth. "Sure. I'd like that."

x x x

"Turn down this street, and it's the fourth one on the left."

Their car ride was spent mostly in silence, radio on low in the background. Zayn only ever interrupted to give him directions to his house, though it was a miracle that they didn't get lost or crash, being that Liam couldn't stop looking at him out of the corner of his eye.

It was over before he would've liked; he was pulling up to the house that Zayn pointed out all too soon, bringing the car to a stop.

Liam turned to face him, bottom lip caught between his teeth as he met the other boy's gaze.

He didn't know who initiated it (it was probably both of them, looking back), but all of a sudden, their lips were connecting in a heated kiss, tongues tangling together passionately and eagerly. He grabbed a handful of Zayn's midnight hair, tugging him closer, while the other boy gripped his waist tightly, fingertips digging into his skin. He was suddenly thankful about the fact that they were in a car; otherwise, with the amount of passion between them, he was sure that he would've climbed into Zayn's lap and taken things to another level.

It was over almost as quickly as it had started, though the fire still rushed through his veins even after they both pulled away. His forehead rested against Zayn's, and he smiled, letting out a soft giggle.

"I love you," Liam admitted breathlessly, playing with a loose strand of the other boy's hair. The other boy laughed along with him, and he had honestly never felt happier or more relieved to see Zayn smile.

"I love you, too," he replied, letting out another laugh. "Although you seriously need to work on your timing; I was about to go for Lou instead. What a disaster that would've been, eh?" In turn, Liam rolled his eyes, playfully swatting his shoulder.

"Come off it, you knob," he murmured in reply. But he leaned down to kiss him on the nose, making both of them burst out into another fit of giggles.

And yeah, maybe Zayn and Liam didn't fall in love underneath rose petals to the tune of an angelic choir, but for their purposes, it was perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> if this looks familiar to you, that's because this was originally posted as a chapter of a story where everyone's entries from the contest i was in were all put together.
> 
> i decided to make mine separate.


End file.
